New Hire Policy

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I would like to know how shops handle new hires: Training, orientation, list of benefits, dress code, shop policy, etc. We have learned that we things are brought up and documented at the time of hire; the employee knows what is expected and what the employee expects from the company.

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For the past 18 months I have noticed that the overwhelming advice for shop owners is to get the customer in ASAP. If they want an oil change NOW you accommodate them. I have been using this method for the past year and for the most part it has been a miss for me and I will explain...

In my shop we work on a high ARO and smaller car count. We are also mostly appointment based. This has worked well for us because we can spend quality time on an inspection and repairs to provide the best service. The thing we do best that has generated high dollars is our ability to properly inspect and sell the inspection list which many times can be thousands of dollars in additional work. What has been a problem for us is the waiter oil changes and the people that want NOW NOW NOW. Generally these are people who want nothing more than an oil change. They want to wait around for their oil change and have little time to spend if additional work is necessary. The probability of that customer leaving and coming back to get the estimate work done is rather low. The highest percentage we have for selling work is absolutely when customer drop off their vehicles and can authorize work from the comfort of their home or work. The NOW customer and the waiter oil change become more of a waste of time than an opportunity. Have we generated some good clients from the now customers? Yes. The percentage however is low compared to all the NOW and waiter customers we serve.

What I am working on now is explaining our value for every possible NOW customer and oil change. We explain to them we provide an oil SERVICE and don't perform oil changes. We explain and sell the value of our inspection, people, and culture. We do the best we can to convey why we are very different from any other shop and why they are making the right choice in bringing their vehicle to us. If after all this is explained and the customer is still insistent on NOW and waiting then we say NO and we are better off for it.

Our business model may be slightly different than yours but I'd love to hear your thoughts. Have you found trouble with selling to NOW and waiter customers?

These F'ing things are the bane of my existence. They keep you on the phone forever, you have to wait for inspectors, they always want to short change you on repair costs and also deny claims. My biggest problem is the time. What kind of policies do you have against this. If it takes 45 minutes to clear an estimate over the phone thats 45 minutes of wasted time. Not including the time it takes for these guys to come out and inspect and then the follow up call.

I was wondering what policy shops are using for side work? I know of a shop that is losing its lead tech because he is going into business for himself. Can't fault someone for trying to better themselves, right? Then I got the rest of the story. You see this tech has been doing a great deal of side work. For example it was recently discovered the shop he works for has lost more than a few clients to him. This tech has also been enlisting the help of a junior tech from the same shop to work in the evenings for cash. Needless to say those two are under producing at the shop during the day. I get a tech helping out family and friends, but to me this guy is poaching customers and has become toxic to the shop.